Selfsufficientish.com

Usual apologies if this has already been covered. To be quite honest I am fed up with the constant diatribe of doom and gloom we are being fed about the affects of global warning. Yes, it is happening. Yes, Humans have a significant part in it happening. No, it does not mean the end of civilisation ...

Have you noticed a shift in the distribution of the frosty days? It's been scuppered of late, but I did notice a pattern for a few years where December would be relatively mild with a few frosty days particularly round Christmas. January gets very mild, but then a nasty, long cold snaps arrive in Fe...

I would say you should easily get 6 turnip plants into the wine bag for life; one for each of the wine bottle dividers. Turnips tend to be smaller than Swede, and some of my Swedes grew quite large. Would have been larger had I tended them better. Leaving it a bit late for garlic, I believe. I gener...

I should see no problems growing garlic. The wine bag (as shown in the photo) has good depth of soil. You might be able to get about 9 cloves in; say 3 rows of 3. The RHS recommend about 4 inches apart, with rows 6 to 8 inches apart. There is more than sufficient depth to the bags, so the roots will...

Apologies if this has already been suggested. Long been fascinated by methods to extend growing season, particularly using hotbeds, and was intrigued to see hotbeds being made in the old BBC series Victorian Kitchen Garden. The insides of a cold frame is excavated to quite a depth (can’t remember ex...

Geoff Hamilton was enthusiastic about ornamental kitchen gardens, and did a lot to promote them when he hosted Gardeners World. You can still get his book from various sources e.g. via Amazon traders. I was disappointed by his book. Most of it was given over to describing plants and methods – like a...

The 'Cottage' garden look of mixed veg and flowers can be harder work than the approach of separate flower and veg patches. You will require a greater depth of gardening knowledge to make it work i.e. to achieve crop rotation, ensure plants aren't being over shadowed, swamp others, remembering what ...

159 votes, and 62% of total.

My criteria: Living in rented house, with no where but containers to grow plants. Needed some containers, preferably light (as the intention was to move in short term), large enough to grow vegetables in, and cheap. Also needed them fairly quickly. Didn't like idea of clay/terracotta pots as expensi...

Can't say I am self sufficient or ish even, but strive in small ways to be so. I have a tiny area to garden in. Managed to grow some veggies in containers. About a dozen swede and whole load of cherry toms. Got latter in very late, didn't take much care of them, but managed a large green harvest in ...